a N g : he 4 The Dallas Post Dallas, PA Wednesday, November 27, 1996 I row. Eoioniais Pui National Utilities’ 2 ER itor Utilities, the rogue water company with operations in Lehman Township and at Harveys Lake, has been repri- manded yet again [or failing to live up to its responsibilities. In “this case, the utility has been ordered to make repairs at Oak Hill, and to clean up its storage [acilities and keep them that way, and to pay a $2,000 fine. More important, the state Public Utilities Commission has ‘denied the company’s request [or a 49 percent rate increase, postponing any consideration of higher prices until National Utilities addresses the host of serious deficiencies brought to the commission’s attention by aggrieved customers. The utility says it needs the money to pay bills and make repairs, but past rate hikes have not brought improved service to National Utilities’ customers, and there’s no reason to think this one will either. In their usual style, the company denies their are significant problems with its service, and vows to appeal both the denial and the [ine. This latest action came about because of the persistence of Joseph Pagoda, an NU customer who lives on one of the streets served by the company, and dozens of others who appeared at public hearings or wrote the commission to protest NU’s lax. costly and dangerous tactics. This fly-by-night utility has forfeited any right it may have had to continue to abuse customers. Instead of giving National Utilities the chance to earn the opportunity to charge more for its reckless ways, the PUC should pull the company’s license and make it turn its operations over to a responsible water ompany that will take seriously its obligation to customers. There must be something to be thankful for ‘So, what do you have to be thankful for this year? You didn't get a raise, the new houses going up in the Back Mountain are twice the size ol yours, that snazzy new convertible is out of reach and your spouse hasn't been sufficiently appreciative of your sacrifices? And you're supposed to be thankful? Well, yes, because as sorry as you may [eel [or yourself, there are plenty of 1 people who have it worse. As for things to appreciate, how : about your kids, even if they aren’t perfect like you were at their age. Chances are, though, they're bright and inquisitive, eager to see and do all the things children are attracted to, and they're looking for direction {rom you, even if it doesn’t often seem so. So, don't just be thank(ul for them, do the world a favor and help them grow up to be bettler than their parents. And that spouse, the one you argued with last night or last week. Think back a little, to all the moments of life you've shared. There will be more of them to come, just as rewarding, and then a legacy of a [amily that grew out of a collection of individuals. That's worth a couple of words of thanks. The house, the car ... they're really not all that important after all, surely not anything to be thankful for unless perhaps they were a gift. If that’s the case, the giver, not the gift, is the appropriate object of your appreciation. And in the end, the greatest gift is a life to live and a nation of freedom in which to live it, filled [rom coast to coast with caring people who won't stand in the way of anyone's attempt to live their dreams. Happy Thanksgiving. Publisher's notebook Acouple of weeks ago I lamented the woes of high technology. Well, it wasn't that high, just someone’s automated fax that kept dialing our number. Being gluttons for punishment, though, we're dipping our toe a little further in the water and publicizing our e-mail address. But before I get to that, a few rules: * We'd like Lo get more material by al But we don’t want a flood of items we won't use, so please call us the old-fashioned way at 675-5211 and tell us what you want to send. Once we've established the guidelines, zap away. * The basic requirement is that your items relate directly to the Back Mountain, or to Back Mountain people doing some- thing elsewhere. We toss out most of the mail we get now because it’s not about our region, and we don’t want to spend ~ time at the computer doing the same thing. We aren't like a daily newspaper that has to fill space with county, state, national and international news. Most weeks we can’t [it all the local news we have on lile, so we surely don’t want more inappropriate material. Again, call first if you have any ques- tions. * We don't do attachments! We've found it’s difficult — often impossible — to capture attachments to e-mail messages. The easy way is simply to copy your item into the e-mail file, so it’s just a big, one-piece e-mail. We take some very large ones now, so don't worry about size. That's about it. Here's the number: dalpost@aol.com And, just so you know, Jill left our phone ofl the hook until the next automated fax call, and we haven't gotten one since. Nature's artful patterns. Photo by Charlotte Bartizek. The Dallas Post Published Weekly By Bartsen Media, Inc. P.O. Box 366, Dallas PA 18612 717-675-5211 Charlotte E. Bartizek ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Ronald A. Bartizek { PUBLISHER Dennise Casterline ADVERTISING ACCT. EXEC Kylie Shafferkoetter REPORTER Paul Rismiller PRODUCTION MANAGER Olga Kostrobala CLASSIFIED/TYPESETTING Jill Gruver : OFFICE MANAGER : Wenn i 4d | PRINTED WITH NINLeE PENNSYLVANIA SOYINK]| NATIONAL NEWSPAPER NEWSPAPER As I was Jack Hilsher MORE ODDS 'N ENDS: . A 25 POUND, six-wheeled robot, is going to be launched toward Mars and will land about July 4, 1997, which was probably no coincidence. The vehicle is named “Sojourner,” after a black reformer of the Civil War era. Valerie Ambroise, a 12-year-old student, won the naming contest from 3,500 entries of essays about a heroine and her accomplish- ments. It has been 30 years since Mari- ner 4 flew by Mars, coming within 6,000 miles of the planet. So- journer, meaning “traveler” will land, photograph the Martian ter- rain in 13 different colors, and explore the region around the lander. NASA hopes this will prove that low-cost landings are pos- sible. Launches toreturn samples won't be until around 2003, even with all the present eagerness to prove whether there is or was life LIBRARY NEWS By NANCY KOZEMCHAK The Back Mountain Memorial Library is showing a display of David Winter Cottages. These cottages are borrowed from the collection of Linda Fritz of Dallas. Linda has been collect- ing these for eight years, having received her first cotiage al Christmastime, 1988. “The Bothy” was a gift from her in-laws, and that started her col- lection. The following year, she bought “The Bake House" and has received one or more as difts every Christmas since. She bought the first one at a country shop in Pocotello, Idaho where they lived for two years. “The Bothy” was constructed on of Odds n' Ends of the future on Mars. ..IN TODAY'S SOCIETY it's impossible to identify doctors any- more because they've given up wearing their stethoscopes around their necks. And they don't carry that neat little black bag, the one they used to dispense pills from. Now they give you a prescription and you have to visit a drug store. As for house calls, what are they? Talk about a “thing of the past.” But one thing about these medicos hasn't changed...the magazines in their waiting rooms are still two years old. Or older. ...IN TIME TO COME the day of the electric car will finally ar- rive. After much grousing from governmental pressure, four com- panies recently announced plans to sell electric vehicles in Califor- nia. General Motors Saturn deal- ers are offering the EV1, which was originally - and stupidly - named the “Impact.” Honda will offer a four-seal electric van next spring, and Toyota will sell an electric version of its hot RAV4 sport utility vehicle in the fall of '97. Chrysler is already taking orders for its electric minivan. Wish they'd speed things up, but I am willing to wait. ...INSIDE LIGHTNING, prob- ably more than you want to know. Those bolts as you have read are merely electrical charges ex- changed between clouds and the ground. But did you know they involve millions volts, tempera- tures of more than 50,000 de- grees, and move at speeds of over 100,000 miles per second? And that business about count- ing the seconds between "a flash and its thunder to determine the number of miles between you and the lightening is seldom explained correctly. You must divide by five to get the miles, not just take the seconds as miles. As many as 2,000 lightning storms are in progress al any given moment on the planet, which causes some curious incidents, like the cowboy in Texas who watched a whole herd of cattle felled by a single bolt. An Idaho potato farmer exhibited samples of his crop that he claimed had been quickbaked in the ground by a lightning strike. There have been other benefits...a lady said her [ailing vision was markedly improved by a “near-miss” lightning bolt, and a man claimed his poor memory was greatly improved after he was struck in the head, while another said the “crack” of a nearby light- ning strike restored his damaged hearing. Where else are you going to read stuff like this? Cottages now on display the ground floor, a shed for stor- ing precious implements like the plough, and a kitchen. “The Bake House” is a cottage of great in- trigue and one needs to explore all the nooks and crannies where David has incorporated the most amazing amount of detail. “The Wine Merchant” is in- cluded in all row of shops to make it complete. Most of what he sold was produced within the commu- nity. “Hertford Court” is an im- posing home [or a self-made man in one of the provincial trading areas of England in the 17th Cen- tury and is a major town house, a symbol of success. “The Vicarage” is a fine home of character for the village cleric. Besides his religious duties, he would be called upon by villagers to dispense wisdom in small dis- putes. The other cottages in the dis- play are The Seminary, Much's Mill, The Boathouse, Cornish Harbour, Berkshire Milking Byre. John Hine was born and grew up in an English village. Everybody in the village had pride in being a much-needed member. He was working with David Winter on a project and David became ex- tremely interested. He, as an artist and sculptor, has recreated alonglost feeling about how people lived and what to them and to me was the good life. The cottages will be at the library until Decem- ber 18. New books: “The Law. ofl Love” by Laura Esquivel tells the tale of a passion that survives from the fall of Montezuma's empire to the 23rd century. The story is set in Mexico City three centuries hence. Our heroine is Azucena. “Alias Grace” by Margaret Atwood takes us back in time and into the life and mind of an enig- matic and notorious woman of the 19th century. Grace has been convicted for her involvement in the vicious murders of her em- ployer. ONLY YESTERDAY 60 Years Ago - Dec. 4, 1936 BLAZE DESTROYS HOUSE Aroaring blaze fanned by a stiff wind ruined the home of Mr. and Mrs. Everett Richards of Lehman last Saturday leaving the family only the clothes it was wearing. Mr. and Mrs. Richards and their three children were in Wyoming Valley shopping when the fire started. Neighbors formed a bucket brigade but were unable to save the home which was com- pletely destroyed. A meeting of Dallas Borough Business Men's Assn. has been. called for tonight at Suburba : Inn to discuss possible action to- ward stimulating interest in Main Street as a Christmas Shopping Center. You could get - Boneless veal roast, 21¢ lb.; chuck roast, 20¢ Ib.; A&P Bread, 8¢ loaf; lettuce, 2 hds. 17¢; carrots, 3 lbs., 10c¢. 50 Years Ago - Dec. 6, 1946 NON-PROFIT CHARTER Carverton Rod & Gun Club;@. newly organized Back Mountain Sportsman's organization has re-. cently received its Charter as a’ non-profit corporation interes in theadvancement of better hu ing through restocking and cen. servation of game, protection of farm property owners through mutual understanding and agree-. ment and the sponsorship of com petitive trap shooting matches Seniors of Laketon High Scho under the direction of Miss Ma: garet M. Dunn will present “Appl ROD & GUN CLUB RECEIVES o sH e Blossom Time" by Eugene: Gi Hafer, on Dec. 12, 8 p.m. “Apple Blossom Time" is a plan with apes mission - to entertain. Shaver Theatre - now showing ] “Bells of St. Mary” with Bing. Crosby and Ingrid Bergman.» 40 Years Ago - Nov. 30, 1956. ROTARY HOSTS GRIDDERS “ Deadline for entry in the Back, Mountain Christmas Lighting Contest is Dec. 20 according toan: announcement by James. Kozemchak chairman. Judging will take place Dec. 27, over a route laid out in advance by Mrs.- Harry Goeringer Jr. 4 All three Back Mountain High School football squads compris- ing 120 young men with their managers, coaches and faculty managers were the guests of Dal- las Rotary Club at its annual foot- ball dinner last night at Irem Temple Country Club. In previ- ous years, the club entertained only the championship team of the Back Mountain area at its old football shoe trophy dinner” But this year there being no cham- pion, decided to entertain all.of the boys. 30 Years Ago - Dec. 1, 1966 LINEAR OFF THE HOOK Latest word on the Linear dead- lockis thaton Nov. 5, the charge that Linear was guilty of unfair labor practices was not sustained; The matter of whether the com; pany is liable for unemployment compensation is yet to be decided. In the meantime, work stoppage is entering its fifth month with a skeleton office force and pickets still plodding, while 350 pedple are still out of work. 3 The 25th Annual Bundle Day Program of Save the Children Fed: eration will be conducted in schools of Dallas School District Dec. 5-9. Wearable clothing in clean condition should be brought to the schools on the above dates. There's a special need for fool: wear, blue jeans and jackets.” Wi FIR TED 20 Years Ago Dec. 2, 1976 FIRE CO. PLANS FAMILY | MEMBERSHIP PLAN § The Daniel C. Roberts Fire Co} Harveys Lake, is proposing a fani- ily membership plan for residents who may wish to use the ambuy lance service provided by the val: unteer fire company. Members will be entitled to unlimited free emergency ambulance service on call initiated from within the Hak: veys Lake area. Non members will be charged $25 per call. [| The Mountaineers kept the old Shoe trephy by defeating thie Knights 13-7 in an exciting and well played game. More than 3,200 fans most of them support- ing the gates after 9:30 a.m. ona cold snowy Thanksgiving morn- ing saw Dallas quarterback Steve Skammer turn in a tremendous performance. Y
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers